First in Human

Some problems in medicine see so many failed attempts that they start to feel untouchable. Teams learn to move on, investors grow wary, and the problem becomes its own warning label. Kate Garrett and Dr. Dan Azagury chose a different path. 

Kate and Dan, cofounders of Ciel (later acquired by Vyaire Medical), found themelves confronted with one of those notoriously unsolved, high-stakes problems - the kind that had stopped other companies cold. What happened next changed everything for them, their patients, and for medtech. 

In this episode, Kate and Dan share how confronting that kind of problem shaped their partnership, what the journey taught them about trust and perseverance, and why some of the most meaningful breakthroughs begin with the problems everyone else have learned to avoid. 


Subscribe to First in Human: 
- Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/first-in-human/id1842644737 
- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3C1xG5SxPei8m2lI63WSkd 


Connect with Kate and Dr. Azagury: 
Kate Garrett's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-garrett-464920/ 
Dr. Dan Azagury's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-azagury-ba70733a/ 

What happens when a serial medtech founder takes on one of the most overlooked problems in public health: the simple act of finding a clean, safe place to go to the bathroom? 

In this episode, I sit down with Fletcher Wilson, founder and CEO of Throne Labs. His company is reimagining public bathrooms with the same precision and empathy you would expect from a medical device team. Fletcher shares how a personal struggle with GI issues, a series of raw conversations with mobile workers and city leaders, and a belief in human dignity pushed him toward an unexpected frontier. His goal is simple. Create a bathroom that feels like a hotel lobby but can sit in a Home Depot parking lot. 

We talk through the stories that shaped Throne. An Uber driver who carried a necktie so he could pretend to be a hotel guest. The tech stack behind their solar powered units. The design choices that have quietly saved multiple lives. Fletcher also opens up about culture, kindness, and why curiosity matters more than a perfect resume. 

If you have ever wondered how a basic human need becomes a systems problem, and how thoughtful design can reshape an entire city, this conversation will change the way you see public space, technology, and dignity itself. 

Subscribe to First in Human: 
- Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/first-in-human/id1842644737 
- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3C1xG5SxPei8m2lI63WSkd 

Connect with Fletcher 
Fletcher on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fletcher-wilson-a216a16/ 
Visit Throne labs: https://thronelabs.co/ 

What if medical education felt less like memorization, and more like discovery?

In this episode of First in Human, we sit down with Shiv Gaglani, the founder of Osmosis, to unpack the story behind how a frustrated med student turned an idea into one of the most influential learning platforms in healthcare.

Shiv shares the spark that started it all—the moment he realized medicine was being taught the way it had been for a century: dense lectures, endless flashcards, and little room for real understanding. That frustration became fuel for building Osmosis, a platform designed to make learning medicine feel intuitive, visual, and human.

Along the way, he opens up about the messy middle—the setbacks, the near-misses, and the lessons learned in building a company that was eventually acquired by Elsevier. We explore what it means to return to med school a decade later in the age of AI, what humans still do best, and why Shiv's newest venture is taking him from Osmosis to ... wait for it .... reverse osmosis - helping people make their homes as healthy as their habits.

This is a story about curiosity, resilience, and what happens when learning itself becomes the experiment. 

Connect with Shiv: https://bit.ly/441n0W4 

What happens when two innovators take on a condition no one talks about - but that quietly shapes how people connect? 

In this episode of First in Human, I sit down with Véronique Peiffer, PhD engineer, former McKinsey consultant, Stanford Biodesign fellowship alum, and co-founder of Palm. Together with her co-founder, she set out to solve excessive hand sweating, or hyperhidrosis - a condition that can make everyday moments of connection feel heavy with self-consciousness. 

Véronique shares how late-night brainstorms turned into a real prototype, how they built a glove-based therapy that worked, and what it took to navigate the realities of funding, regulation, and knowing when to pause.

We also talk about her next chapter: distilling those lessons into The Scrappy Entrepreneur, a book for early-stage founders learning to build with heart and grit. 

If you’ve ever wondered what innovation really looks like behind the scenes - the human problems many of us face, and the courage it takes to solve them - this conversation will stay with you.

Ever wondered how to talk about your invention without your idea being stolen? In this episode of First in Human, we sit down with Jessica Hudak - mechanical engineer turned patent attorney and now VP of Corporate Counsel at Edwards Lifesciences = to unpack how innovators can safely move from idea to impact.

You’ll hear Jessica’s journey from Stanford Biodesign to the Federal Circuit, and learn practical, plain-English answers to the biggest questions in health tech and medical devices: when to file a provisional patent, how “first to file” really works, what counts as public disclosure, and what to know about AI inventorship.

Whether you’re a clinician, engineer, or founder building your first product, you’ll walk away knowing exactly how to protect what you’re creating—and why it matters.

What happens when you combine clinical credibility, a patient problem that’s flown under the radar, and a founder mindset? In this episode of First in Human, I sit down with Ben Thompson (Au.D.), founder of health-tech enabled telehealth startup Treble Health - and a YouTube creator whose tinnitus-focused videos have been viewed over 10 million times. 

Ben shares how he noticed an accessibility gap for tinnitus care, leveraged content creation and community building, and made the leap from 100 % clinical practice into startup mode without an MBA or device-manufacturing background. We go deep into how he uses technology, telehealth, personalized treatment, and patient-first design to deliver high-value care. 

Along the way, we'll touch on the clinical insights that have driven his YouTube growth - and the insights from his YouTube content that have fed directly into his company. 

If you’re a doctor, designer, engineer, or founder looking to get started in health-tech or build something meaningful in healthcare, this is your episode. You’ll walk away with actionable lessons on spotting unmet needs, building credibility through content, bootstrapping a practice, deciding when to scale, and what really happens when you shift from clinician to health-tech builder.

What happens when you bring Silicon Valley thinking into the operating room? In this episode of First in Human, host Dr. David Hindin sits down with Nick Damiano, co-founder and CEO of Andromeda Surgical, to explore how his team is building the world’s first autonomous surgical robot—a platform designed to make surgery safer, faster, and more precise.

Nick shares his journey from pre-med at Stanford to med-tech founder, how the Stanford Biodesign process shaped his path, and why he believes the next revolution in health tech will come from AI-powered surgical systems. Together, they dive into what it really takes to turn a clinical insight into a startup, how to avoid confirmation bias when validating needs, and the practical realities of fundraising in med tech.

You’ll hear how Andromeda is tackling complex procedures like HoLEP (holmium laser enucleation of the prostate), what “human-in-the-loop autonomy” means for surgeons, and why AI in healthcare isn’t about replacing clinicians—it’s about multiplying their impact.

Whether you’re a founder, surgeon, engineer, or anyone just curious about the frontier of robotic surgery, this conversation offers a rare look at how cutting-edge technology, design thinking, and clinical insight come together to redefine what’s possible in the OR.

What does it take for a physician to cross the bridge from medicine into health tech innovation? In this episode of First in Human, I sit down with Dr. Farzad Azimpour - cardiologist, Stanford Biodesign alum, and global health innovator - whose career has spanned device development, design thinking at IDEO, and now Head of Innovation in Structural Heart at Edwards Lifesciences.

Farzad shares his journey from a young cardiology fellow scribbling ideas on index cards to working at the front lines of medical device innovation. We explore the lessons he’s learned about creativity, collaboration, and unlearning some of medicine’s ingrained habits in order to thrive in interdisciplinary teams. Along the way, we talk Biodesign, intellectual property, structural heart therapies, and what it means to balance falling in love with an idea with knowing when to let it go.

If you’ve ever wondered how doctors, designers, and engineers can come together to change patient care, this conversation offers a rare behind-the-scenes look at the medtech world. Whether you’re a physician with a creative spark, a founder navigating early-stage health innovation, or just curious about how ideas move from the clinic to real-world impact, you’ll walk away inspired.

Subscribe, share, and follow along at firstinhumanpodcast.com
 or wherever you get your podcasts.

What happens when a text from a stranger changes your career?In this episode of First in Human, I sit down with Dr. Austin Chiang, Chief Medical Officer at Medtronic and one of the most influential physician voices on social media. We unpack his remarkable journey—from practicing gastroenterologist to becoming the first CMO of Medtronic’s endoscopy business, a role created specifically for him.
Austin shares:- How he built credibility on Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok long before most doctors embraced digital platforms.
- The rise of misinformation in healthcare and why physicians need to lead online.
- What he’s learned inside one of the world’s largest medical device companies about innovation, commercialization, and the people behind medtech.
- The challenge of balancing ethics, transparency, and influence while shaping the future of healthcare.
- Why AI, digital health, and hybrid careers are redefining medicine for the next generation of doctors.

If you’ve ever wondered how clinicians break out of the traditional path, bridge the gap between medicine and technology, or use social media to impact public health, Austin’s story is both inspiring and practical. 

Austin's Twitter: https://x.com/AustinChiangMD
Austin's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/austinchiangmd/ 
Austin's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/austinchiangmd/ 

Follow along at firstinhumanpodcast.com or subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen.

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Maya Yiadom and Dr. Gabrielle Bunney to unpack how real AI gets built, tested, and safely deployed in health care. We go inside the emergency department to tackle one of the most time-critical problems in medicine: early heart attack (MI) detection and door-to-ECG performance. Drs. Yiadom and Bunney share the origin story of SmartCare AI, why small delays lead to higher mortality and heart failure, and how “upskilling” front-door staff with an augmenting intelligence can improve equity and outcomes. 

We cover:- When to stay in academia vs when to spin out your startup
- What “good” clinical workflow integration actually looks like in the ED
- The silent pilot method to prove safety and impact before go-live
- The challenges of protecting IP for AI systems 
- Human vs AI performance, and why human+AI wins

Whether you’re a clinician, founder, engineer, or health-tech curious, you’ll hear a practical blueprint for AI in healthcare that moves past hype into measurable patient safety and clinical impact. 

Dr. Yiadom on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maame-yaa-maya-a-b-yiadom-36725b13b/
Dr. Yiadom's lab: https://yiadom-hsrdcc.com/ 
Dr. Bunney on LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabrielle-bunney-md-mba-ms-831a46249/

Subscribe and follow at firstinhumanpodcast.com or wherever you listen.